


Workplace Cryptid

by Lizardman Xander (Lizardman_Xander)



Category: Half-Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:01:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24782764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lizardman_Xander/pseuds/Lizardman%20Xander
Summary: Gordon meets a cryptid who works in the biology labs.This is a self indulgent fanfic that I wrote for funsies because I could.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Workplace Cryptid

Whoever it was, they raced through the training course like it was no big deal, and it absolutely boggled Gordon’s mind. Gordon assumed it was a guy based on build, and knew they were from the bio department since the suit was green for stealth instead of the bright obvious orange his own department had. He’d never seen their face though since they always trained with the helmet on which had to be hotter than hell in a powered off HEV suit… Holy shit the thing wasn’t even on, acting as pure dead weight! 

Hell, when they were both on the course at the same time, with Gordon starting even sooner, the guy just passed right on by with a wave and a “hello” signed directly at him in ASL. This guy whoever they were was an absolute enigma that just confused and slightly bothered him to no end. He had to figure out who the hell this was, but the thing was, this guy never removed their helmet and he never saw them in the locker rooms. Was this a woman? Was that why he never saw them? This mystery bothered Gordon, and he rambled on to Barney about it in sign.

“Well, Gordon, why don’t you just ask them?”Barney offered.

[I don’t really have the chance to ever do that, Barney. They don’t stop long enough and I never see them.] Gordon huffed as he signed. Barney hummed softly as he thought, taking a bite of his sandwich he had gotten for lunch.

“They’re kinda like a cryptid then,”Barney mused with a chuckle, smirking a bit. “Shame you’re both in different departments though so you’ll never really see them out in the wild on the job to figure out who it is by how they walk or if they have any obvious injuries from that harsh training they’re doing.”

[They may as well would be one with how unnaturally fast they move. The suit isn’t even powered and you know how much that thing weighs when there’s no power going through it to assist in movement. They run like it’s nothing...and I’m moving slower than a snail without the aid of the suit moving with me.] Gordon briefly sipped his coffee and gave a sigh. [I could try asking them. I might have to grab them to get them to pause fast enough for me to get the words out.] Barney grinned at this answer.

“You gotta tell me who it is since now you’ve got me all curious too, Gordon.” 

And that was what Gordon was going to do the next day when he ran into the mystery person in the green HEV suit while training, but for now, he had to finish up his lunch break and get back to work. As he walked back, he ran into someone by accident, managing to knock them down and spill papers all over the place. He’d knocked into another scientist, though this one looked young with messy short black hair, pale skin, and intense blue eyes that caused Gordon to stare and shiver a bit. He felt anxiety and a bit of fear go through him with those eyes that almost seemed to glow even in the harshly lit section of hallway. 

“Thanks for your lack of help after running into me and knocking these papers everywhere,”the guy on the ground huffed irritably after picking up papers, standing up straight after. The guy was pretty tall, standing at 6’7, and he was fairly thin looking, but had muscle to him that Gordon kinda felt when running into him. The man snapped his fingers in front of Gordon’s face to get his attention. Gordon’s eyes dropped quickly and he signed out a [Sorry. I was preoccupied with my thoughts.]

The dark haired man sighed and frowned a little before speaking and signing at the same time, unsure if Gordon could hear or not, and he didn’t want to be too rude.

“I forgive you, it happens sometimes I guess. Just be more observant next time, it’s kinda your job to notice details. My name’s Dr. William Xander by the way, you can call me William if you’d like or Dr. Xander if you’re the professional type.” Gordon nodded and relaxed a bit, unable to make eye contact still. He could make eye contact with most people, but there was something about Dr. Xander’s eyes that really freaked him out. They didn’t feel at all natural.

[I’ll go with William then...Also I appreciate that you’re signing to me, I can hear though. I just don’t speak. So… I haven’t seen you around here. What department are you in?] Gordon started to walk with William. 

“Oh, I’m in the biology department. Which one are you in?” William asked with a soft, kind smile, eyes softening a bit even though they were still intense and still freaked Gordon the fuck out for a reason he couldn’t place.

[Physics.] Gordon replied.

“Wonderful. I was heading down there so I could hand these off to Dr. Kleiner. They were sent to my department’s mail by mistake, and I drew the short straw. Kinda glad I did though… Not a lot of people talk to me unless they have to anymore even when I try to make conversation. I’m not really sure why. It’s not like I did anything terrible… Just kinda happened gradually as I worked here so it’s kinda nice to talk to someone who isn’t my husband for a change without them being forced to do so...I-I’m not forcing you am I? You don’t have to talk to me at all if you don’t want to.” Gordon felt kinda bad for the guy. He actually seemed pretty nice, but lonely. William looked at Gordon, then looked down, looking guilty as he slowed his pace which made Gordon’s eyes widen as he rushed to sign.

[No! You’re not forcing me to talk to you. Though it’s kinda shitty for your coworkers to do that.] Gordon had an idea why they wouldn’t want to talk to the guy. First reason was probably his eyes. Second, which was very shitty, and much less likely, was because he was gay and open about it. He doubted it would be the second reason though, but shitty people like that did exist out there.

They made it to their destination fairly quickly in Gordon’s opinion, walking in with William. The other scientists looked up, looking confused as to who it was before very quickly looking down with wide eyes and shaking hands when they looked him in the eye. William walked on over to Dr. Kleiner with a soft smile on his face.

“Dr. Kleiner. I was sent down here with some papers that made it up to the biolab section’s mail area by mistake,”William explained as Dr. Kleiner turned around. The older scientist flinched a little bit before straightening himself out to speak. 

“A-Ah, yes, I was told you would be coming. Thanks for taking time to bring these to me. They’re quite important for our most major upcoming experiment.” Dr. Kleiner had to clear his throat after his first sentence as his voice wavered. Gordon could sense Kleiner’s unease and William’s disappointment. William turned around and shuffled out after a pause. Once he was out of the room, everyone seemed to relax. A few mumbles that Gordon couldn’t quite catch went around. Yeah...He could kind of tell why no one talked to him unless they had to.

The rest of the day went fairly well, and Gordon made his way back to his apartment. The whole incident from that day was forgotten as he settled into bed. 

He slept rather terribly that night, he’d dreamt of some sort of terrifying, reptilian monster with glowing blue eyes and large teeth. The scientist groaned and rubbed his face, he was going to drag ass that morning during training. He just knew it. Thankfully he didn’t have much more to go, just another two weeks. He went in to suit up after some coffee and a bagel from the cafeteria. Yeah, he knew he needed to eat more, but those nightmares left him with a queasy stomach. After the last part of his suit was on, Gordon headed out to the course to go through it again. He, of course, saw that the enigma in the green suit was there so he approached them and waved them down. 

[Hey....I don’t want to sound rude, but I’ve noticed you around here so many times, and I was wondering who you were. Or if we met before. You probably can’t recognize me since I have my helmet on if we have met before, but my name’s Gordon Freeman.] Gordon signed nervously. He saw the figure in front of him start signing back.

[Yes, we’ve met before, but it’s a surprise. I’ll meet up with you after training, give you something to motivate you to finish the course as fast as possible.] They signed back. Gordon shook his head and snorted soundlessly. Of course it would be a surprise. Of fucking course. 

Though the training session honestly felt like it was shorter and he wasn’t injured too bad, just some bruising from rough landings he still hadn’t managed to figure out how to roll through...and a broken nose which he would need reset. At the end, the green HEV suited figure stood, waiting for him casually. He then saw them remove their helmet. He was surprised to see that it was William… Okay, now he was convinced that William was some kind of cryptid. He had to tell Barney about this. Gordon’s eyes went wide as he stared, obviously not looking into William’s as the guy approached with a grin.

“Small world, huh, Gordon. You’re getting better by the way at moving around in that thing without its power.” Gordon flinched as the guy reached over and booped him on the nose...which honestly surprisingly didn’t hurt even though Gordon knew it had been broken.

“See you again tomorrow, Gordon, bright and early!” William chirped as he headed into the locker room to get out of the suit, take a quick shower, and get his uniform on. 

Gordon did the same after a while and then headed to the infirmary next to the training course. He was shocked when he was informed his nose was fine. He could have sworn he broke it, he heard it crunch and felt it! All Gordon thought now was ‘Shit...What the hell is he?’ as he made his way to work for the day. 

The guy was still an enigma even though he now knew who he was.


End file.
